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I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia.
You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.

Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Just like with chocolate everyone has a different taste in tea. Like it took me years to acquire a taste for dark chocolate, now it's what I prefer and the darker the better. Same with tea, my preference has always been black, but now I find myself reaching for white and red teas more often than I would have ever imagined.

And just like with taste, there's a difference in each brand. I don't just love one brand, I choose from the best of the bunch. Yes, I'm a bit of a food snob. I much prefer La Maison and Godiva chocolates, but I go to Teuscher for my Champagne Truffles and no one will ever be able to dethrone a good old fashion Snickers Bar. It's the same with tea. I love Esp Emporium's White Grape, Teavana's Lavender, The NecessiTeas' Orange Creamsicle, Tea Gschwendner's Bossa Nova, and Tea of Republic's Double Matte Chocolate, but brewed Lipton makes a mean iced tea!

As I make my way through different tea companies and tea blends I'm learning that the world of tea is much larger than I could have ever imagined. Each day a new tea company reaches out to me about my Tea With Rae project, and let me tell you in just four weeks it has been an amazing journey.

I hope that with me you will venture out of your comfort zone and try new tea blends and new brands. I will let you decide what makes your taste buds say #HappyDance, and I will keep sharing with you as honestly as I possibly can as I travel through this wide world of tea.

But, no matter what tea you choose, remember that tea is more than a beverage. It's a way of life. A strong breakfast tea in the morning will give a jump start to your day, while at the other end, a cup of chamomile before bedtime will signal the close of the day.

Confucius said, "Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties."

I agree with Confucius. What I know for sure is that tea is wellness for the body, the mind and the spirit! What's in your tea cup?

Just like with chocolate everyone has a different taste in tea. Like it took me years to acquire a taste for dark chocolate, now it's what I prefer and the darker the better. Same with tea, my preference has always been black, but now I find myself reaching for white and red teas more often than I would have ever imagined.

And just like with taste, there's a difference in each brand. I don't just love one brand, I choose from the best of the bunch. Yes, I'm a bit of a food snob. I much prefer La Maison and Godiva chocolates, but I go to Teuscher for my Champagne Truffles and no one will ever be able to dethrone a good old fashion Snickers Bar. It's the same with tea. I love Esp Emporium's White Grape, Teavana's Lavender, The NecessiTeas' Orange Creamsicle, Tea Gschwendner's Bossa Nova, and Tea of Republic's Double Matte Chocolate, but brewed Lipton makes a mean iced tea!

As I make my way through different tea companies and tea blends I'm learning that the world of tea is much larger than I could have ever imagined. Each day a new tea company reaches out to me about my Tea With Rae project, and let me tell you in just four weeks it has been an amazing journey.

I hope that with me you will venture out of your comfort zone and try new tea blends and new brands. I will let you decide what makes your taste buds say #HappyDance, and I will keep sharing with you as honestly as I possibly can as I travel through this wide world of tea.

But, no matter what tea you choose, remember that tea is more than a beverage. It's a way of life. A strong breakfast tea in the morning will give a jump start to your day, while at the other end, a cup of chamomile before bedtime will signal the close of the day.

Confucius said, "Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties."

I agree with Confucius. What I know for sure is that tea is wellness for the body, the mind and the spirit! What's in your tea cup?